Social Work England business plan 2026 to 2027

Social Work England has published its business plan for 2026 to 2027. The plan sets out and outlines the objectives the regulator aims to achieve during the year.

The plan has been informed by ongoing collaboration with key stakeholders in social work and regulation. The plan doesn’t describe everything the regulator will deliver in 2026 to 2027, but it does highlight our highest priorities and associated key deliverables.

The business plan covers the period of 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027. During this period, its objectives are:

1. Building a sustainable financial and workforce plan
2. Improving our digital systems, data quality and security
3. Improving the way concerns are triaged so that decisions are timely and proportionate
4. Strengthening capacity and consistency across investigations and case examination
5. Reducing the backlog after case examination and improving case timeliness
6. Building our research function to strengthen evidence and insight
7. Building the evidence base for the future of continuing professional development
8. Strengthening our engagement with social workers, employers and the sector
9. Shaping the future of specialist and advanced social work practice
10. Improving social work education and strengthening our quality assurance processes

Colum Conway, chief executive of Social Work England said,

“Our business plan is guided by our legislation and statutory responsibilities, as well as our values and guiding principles.

“Everything we aim to deliver as part of this plan relies on the dedication, expertise and commitment from our board, our people, and other key stakeholders. We will remain focused on protecting the public, working closely with social workers and people with lived experience so we can continue to enable positive change in social work.”

Read our 2026 to 2027 business plan on our website.

In addition to our business plan, we have also published our equality diversity and inclusion (EDI) and co-production action plan. This outlines how our guiding principles of EDI and co-production are embedded across all our business objectives. Read the EDI and co-production action plan.